Bundesanstalt Statistik Österreich (Statistics Austria) 

Directorate Spatial Statistics

Guglgasse 13, 1110 Wien

Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) provide an aggregate overview, in thousand tonnes per year, of the material flows into and out of an economy. EW-MFA cover solid, gaseous, and liquid materials, except for bulk flows of water and air. Like the system of national accounts, EW-MFA constitute a multi-purpose information system. The detailed material flows provide a rich empirical database for numerous analytical purposes. Further, EW-MFA are used to derive various material flow indicators.

The National Statistical Institute (NSI) sent to Eurostat on yearly basis the EW-MFA. The accounts comprise the following reporting tables:

• Table A 'Domestic extraction (DE)': records material flows from the environment into the economy in a detailed breakdown by type of material
• Table B 'Imports - total imports (intra- and extra-EU) and Table D 'Exports – total exports (intra- and extra-EU)': These physical trade tables record the imports and exports of products in thousand tonnes and grouped by materials.
• Table F 'Domestic processed output (DPO)': records material flows from the economy to the domestic environment (e.g. emissions to air, water and soil)
• Table G 'Balancing items': reports some memorandum items which are necessary to have the full material balance related to a national economy
• Table H 'Indicators': presents the EW-MFA derived indicators which are automatically calculated from Table A to G
• Table I 'Material flow accounts in raw material equivalents (RME)': records material flow accounts in raw material equivalents (MFA-RME). Some items are calculated automatically based on data reported in Table A and Table I

EW-MFA record physical flows of materials broken down by type of flow and by type of material.

The type of flow dimension corresponds to the EW-MFA questionnaire reporting tables and derived indicators, namely:

• domestic extraction (Table A)
• physical imports (Table B)
• physical exports (Table D)
• domestic processed output (Table F)
• balancing items (Table G)
• direct material input (indicator)
• domestic material consumption (indicator)
• physical trade balance (indicator)

The breakdown by type of material employs a classification of materials. This EW-MFA classification of materials is hierarchical with main material flow categories (1-digit level). Each main category is further broken down, maximal down to 4-digit-level:

    1-digit: material category;

    2-digit: material class;

    3-digit: material group;

    4-digit: material sub-group.

The data refer to national economies as defined in the system of national accounts.

Conceptually economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) belong to the international system of environmental economic accounting (SEEA-Central Framework). Furthermore, EW-MFA is one of several physical modules of Eurostat's programme on European environmental economic accounts. It is covered by Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts.

EW-MFA are closely related to concepts and definitions of national accounts. Most notably they follow the residence principle, i.e. they record material flows related to resident unit's activities, regardless where those occur geographically.

Further methodological guidelines are provided in various publications by Eurostat (see Eurostat website > Environment > Methodology, heading: 'Material flows and resource productivity').

For more detailed information please see also 3.1.

Statistical units change according to the different data sources (e.g. agriculture, forestry and fishery statistics, production statistics, geological surveys, energy statistics, foreign trade statistics etc.) which EW-MFA are based on.

EW-MFA refer to the entire national economy of the reporting country (see also 3.3 'Coverage - sector')).

EW-MFA include all materials (excluding water and air) crossing the system boundary (between the environment and the economy) on the input side or on the output side. The economy is demarcated by the conventions of the national accounting system (resident units).

Material inputs to the economy cover extractions of natural resources (excluding water and air) from the natural environment and imports of material products (goods) from the rest of the world economy (ROW).

Material outputs are disposals of materials to the natural environment and exports of material products and waste to the ROW. Information on natural resources extracted and traded products is provided by different statistical units.

Austria

Please see the table in 3.8.1.

Not applicable because EW-MFA are not reported as indices.

The unit of measure is thousand tonnes.

The data refer to the calendar years.

Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) are legally covered by Regulation (EU) 691/2011 on European Environmental Economic Accounts.

Not applicable in national level this information is required at European level only.

Article 17 of the Austrian Federal Statistics Act 2000 regulates the confidentiality of statistics. Article 19 of the Austrian Federal Statistics Act 2000 specifies rules for publication of statistics. According to it statistics shall be published in a manner that prevents any connection being made with statements concerning specific or identifiable data subjects unless the data subject concerned has no interest warranting protection in his/her data remaining confidential. In the event such connections cannot be ruled out, publication is subject to the explicit prior written consent of the data subject involved.

EW-MFA is an accounting system that makes use of already processed and anonymised data deriving from primary statistics. However, some of the data on imports and exports were obfuscated in order to prevent the disclosure of confidential aggregates.

Results of EW-MFA are published by the end of April (t +16).

Preliminary results are published by december (t + 12).

 Statistics Austria’s release calendar: https://www.statistik.at/en/medien/release-calendar

Results are disseminated to all users at the same time. Standard tables are free access – more detailed tables and special reports are with costs. At the moment results from tables F, G and I are only reported in the project report that is published on Statistics Austria’s webpage, but they are not available in Statistics Austria’s dissemination database STATcube.

Annual

No news releases.

Results are published in the following Statistics Austria publication media:

Statistics Austria website – Environment, Statistische Nachrichten (in German only), Statistisches Jahrbuch Österreichs (contents and headings in English, otherwise in German only), Statistical Overviews.

The results are also forwarded to the contracting entity in the form of a project report – which is also published at the webpage.

Data from EW-MFA is disseminated in the online database STATcube on an annual basis – in German and English. This refers to data on domestic extraction, physicial imports and exports and indicators.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

not applicable

Data are sent to Eurostat to be released as national data and to be used in European aggregates.

Furthermore results are published in NAMEA and in the SDG tables.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Metadata about methodology and quality is available in every paper and electronic publication. The most detailed documentation on methodology and quality is the so called "Standard Documentation", which is released on Statistics Austria's website. The Standard Documentation is available in German; the most important information is available in English as well. The Standard Documentation was last updated in April 2023.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Quality documentation is included in the Standard Documentation, See chapter 3.

Statistics Austria is committed to ensuring the highest quality with respect to the compilation of statistical information. In accordance with the Federal Statistics Act (Article 24), Statistics Austria has to use statistical methods and processes in compliance with internationally recognised scientific principles and standards, conduct ongoing analyses of the statistics with a view to quality improvements and ensure that statistics are as up-to-date as possible. This commitment to quality is also specified in Statistics Austria’s mission statement. In adopting the European Statistics Code of Practice, Statistics Austria has committed to adhering to principles and standards for the production and dissemination of high-quality statistics. As part of the European Statistical System (ESS), Statistics Austria recognises the Quality Declaration of the ESS. The Statistics Council has set up a Quality Assurance Committee, a primary focus of which is the ongoing examination of potential quality improvements.

Statistics Austria uses standard-documentation to provide users with information about the underlying concepts, definitions, methods used and the quality of the statistics (meta-information) in a standardised format.

In cooperation with the Statistic Committee’s Quality Assurance Committee, feedback meetings concerning the quality of the different statistical products are held regularly within the framework of Statistics Austria’s quality management programme. In addition internal quality audits are carried out by the quality management team. The content and objectives concern critical examination of the quality aspects of statistics with particular consideration of the methods and processes used; identification of quality improvement potential; development of recommendations for improvement measures; and improvement of the standard documentation relating to the statistics in question, with special attention to the views of users and external experts.

Main users at the national level are Federal ministries, e.g. Federal Ministry of Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK), Federal Chancellery, Interest groups, Universities and non-university research institutes, e.g. Institute of Social Ecology (SEC), University of natural resources and life sciences (BOKU), Institute of Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at Vienna University of Technology (IFIP), students.

Main international users are Eurostat, the OECD and the UN.

Currently no satisfaction survey for environmental accounts is undertaken, but in cooperation with the Statistic Committee’s Quality Assurance Committee, feedback meetings concerning the quality of the different statistical products on the basis of the standard documentation are held regularly within the framework of Statistics Austria’s quality management programme. In these feedback meetings special attention is given to the views of users and external experts.

Additionally every two years the Advisory council for the environment gathers for a meeting. Results from ongoing work in environmental accounts is presented and discussed among experts.

The dataset in principle is complete. Some of the items in table F are not available in time and therefore are extrapolated until new data are available. Data on RME (table I) are only available at t+4 years.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Annex 3 provides an assessment of the overall quality of the reported data. 

Not applicable because data are not based on a sample survey.

Not applicable because data are not based on a sample survey.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Model-related effects can occur as regards the following items:

• estimation of the amount of sand and gravel
• estimation of the grazed biomass
• adaption of the fuel consumption to the domestic concept
• calculation of the balancing items

The estimation methods used comply with the Eurostat-Guidance.

Final results: T+16 months.

Preliminary results are compiled at T+12 months.

Preliminary results are compiled at T+12 months.

Final results: T+16 months 

Not applicable.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Data on EW-MFA are compiled according to harmonised guidelines provided by Eurostat and hence comparable across European countries reporting EW-MFA data to Eurostat.

Not applicable because physical imports and exports as recorded in EW-MFA are not specified by origin and/or destination.

Please see the table in 15.2.1.1.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Please use below table for explaining b)-flags (breaks in time series):

The accounting framework of EW-MFA is consistent with the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA-CF) adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission as a world-level statistical standard in March 2012. EW-MFA are consistent with the European system of accounts (ESA) and hence suited to be combined with ESA aggregates.

Data source to determine DE of timber and fuelwood is the Timber Felling Report (TFR). The TFR only reports wood removals from forest. Some fuelwood is also extracted from other sites such as parks, shelter belts or gardens. Data on DE of MF.1.3.2. fuelwood not covered in the TFR is estimated based on energy balances. 

Not applicable; reported EW-MFA data are only annual.

The reported EW-MFA is consistent with ESA.

Internal consistency is 100% in table A, B, D, H and I. Memo item MF.7.2. in table F has a different source for the years 2000 – 2003. 

Reg. (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates cost effectiveness as statistical principle; however, there is no legal obligation to provide cost and burden information in quality reports. Such an obligation is also not covered by sectoral legislation. Due to the fact that consistent standards and definitions for cost reporting are currently not available and are yet to be developed by the RDG-expert group there is a high risk of misrepresentation and distortions when comparing costs of statistics production across countries. Statistics Austria will, hence, not provide any cost information until agreed harmonised reporting standards are in place.

A document describing the revision policy is published on the website of Statistics Austria.  

EW-MFA is dependent on basic statistics. In case there are revisions in basic statistics they are performed in EW-MFA as well. Usually the whole time series is revised in order to avoid breaks. From time to time larger revisions have to be carried out. These revisions are well explained in the respective project report and are usually discussed with relevant experts beforehand.

There were no methodological changes during the compilation of the data for the 2024 EW-MFA questionnaire and thus no major revisions were made.

Minor revisions took place due to revisions of basic statistics used. That particularly applies for the adjustment for residence principle, which was revised for the years 2013-2021 based on the revisions made in the energy accounts.

In addition, the figures for MF.1.2.2.2 Grazed biomass in Table A were revised for the period 2000-2021. This category also includes the input of green waste from public parks and gardens to composting due to the lack of a suitable material category for these materials. The data on green waste from public parks and gardens is based on data on composting from Austria's national inventory report. The time series on composting in the National Inventory Report had been revised, which lead to minor changes in the figures of MF.1.2.2.2

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Data sources used to produce economy-wide material flow accounts are described in the sub-chapters 18.1.1 (and Annex) and 18.1.2.

Annex 1 provides detailed data sources for questionnaire tables A, B, D, F and G.

Statistics Austria calculates RMEs with an Excel Tool provided by SEC-BOKU. The method behind the tool can be summarized as a hybrid approach, which combines input-output analysis with information from life-cycle assessment.

One reason why this tool is preferred is that it better captures the economic structure of the Austrian Economy which results in more suitable RME of exports.

Another more practical reason is that the tool is easy to handle. It was made in the way that the data needed is already in a suitable format. Therefore it doesn’t take too much time to compile the MFA in RME, which is an important factor considering the increasing time pressure in the production of statistical products in general.

The RME Excel Tool is based on the methodology described in the following publication:

Schaffartzik, A., Eisenmenger, N., Krausmann, F., Weisz, H. (2014): Consumption-based Material Flow Accounting. Austrian Trade and Consumption in Raw Material Equivalents 1995-2007. Journal of Industrial Ecology 18, 10-112.

Annually

No surveys conducted in EW-MFA.

The results from the basic statistics for the whole data series are compared with the previous year. In case of deviations that are not explained in the publications, the compilers of the statistics are contacted. The same is true if there is no obvious reason for a deviation for the reporting year.

Totals on non-metallic minerals are compared between PRODCOM and mining statistics. The wood felling report is compared with data on fuelwood in energy statistics. The estimation of grazed biomass is compared with an estimation performed by a research institute. Data on DPO deriving from international databases are compared with national publications from the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism and the Austrian Environment Agency.

Results of various basic statistics are used for the compilation of Material Flow Accounts following the guidance and using the correspondence tables provided by Eurostat.

Calculation models and estimation methods are used in particular where material flows that are not or not fully evaluated economically make a significant contribution to the total material use, such as mineral raw material for construction or grazed biomass.

Not applicable.

See Annex 2.

Eurostat’s correspondence table is used to assign traded goods.

No conversion factors are used. Conversion is performed by trade statistics.

The adjustment of the fossil fuels to the residence principle is carried out analogously to the calculations of the air emission accounts.

The time series was calculated back to the year 2000 by building a bridge table between energy balances and energy accounts.

Joules are converted into tonnes using the same conversion factors as used for the energy balances.

Principally, PRODCOM data are not used for DE of minerals because PRODCOM reports data on minerals after the first step of production.

Instead, data on extraction of minerals from the national mining statistics are taken in most cases. However, the values on sand and gravel are too low because, in some cases, there is no obligation to report these numbers for the mining survey.

Therefore, data on sand and gravel are based on the production statistics and additional estimations are made to cover small companies and companies in the trade and transport sector.

For comparison purposes an additional estimation is made using the Eurostat tool, which estimates sand and gravel required for the production of concrete and sand and gravel for road layers.

The results of the calculations are also compared with the national Mining Statistics, which are assumed to have about 80% coverage for sand and gravel.

Not applicable; i.e. in EW-MFA no time series adjustment necessary.

Not applicable.